ベルセルク 黄金時代篇 MEMORIAL EDITION

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Generally, I do not rewatch stuff: did that a lot in VHS era, but then decided, that there is too much to watch to waste time on rewatching. When the original Berserk movies came out in 2012, I did skip the first 2, since they were about the same stuff that the original TV series was about, and they did not really look that good.

But this time I decided to make an exception. Berserk anime form 1997 and manga left a significant mark on me, and as many I was saddened by Kentaro Miura's passing last year. Thus, I thought that TV release of the movies as "Memorial Edition" could be a good... Well, "memorial". A sign of respect.

Yes, it's still plagued by relatively bad CGI (although, let's be honest - there are worse examples), but I can live with that, because the story should still be intact (mostly, at least). And you know what? Event he 1st episode hits a bit different, when you know what will happen further down the line. Not as differently, as Madoka, where knowing the ending equals to watching almost a different story, but still.

Guess, that's the point, though. Look back and see... If you, the watcher, has changed along with the characters or not. And it still may be a good introduction to the series for those, who have not read the manga yet.

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Episode 2:

When 1st episode of "Berserk: Memorial Edition" came out, I was somewhat excited, especially since it gave a chance to attract new audience, that would learn how great the story is. And then the 2nd episode came out...

I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to have a 4+ minutes long supercut of things that should come waaaaaay in the future compared to 1st episode and even the 2nd one. Even for me, who watched 1997 series and read manga this was helluva confusing. It kind of spoiled a lot of things, even if newcomers won't understand most (or even all of them). And then, it looked like a bunch of stuff from the 1st movie was skipped (and it skipped a lot by itself) and I felt the hallmark encounter with Zodd was... "Meh". Again, I think they skipped some bits and pieces from the movies, which made it feel even more rushed, and I am not even trying to compare it to original 1997 version.

They call it "memorial". Which usually implies respect to original art piece or creator (or any other person or event), but this felt as if they decided to butcher the show for the hell of it. As mentioned, even for a person, who already knows what will happen down the line, this felt completely out of place. Yes, I enjoyed (to an extent) the new mix of "Forces" which was playing during the spoilery sequence, but that does not justify its existence in the beginning of an episode. It would have made much more sense as a dream sequence, similar to what respective game did.

So... In the end, I can no longer recommend this "Memorial Edition". If you want to try out the series, ideally - read manga. Or watch 1997 series: yes, its art may feel dated, but the atmosphere it had was so engrossing. If you can't stomach that art, though - at least watch the movies directly, instead of "Memorial Edition", because otherwise your experience will be... Skewed.

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Episode 4:

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Episode 7:

Was this the intentional cut at the end? Or was the release corrupted? Although considering previous endings of episodes, probably the former.

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Episode 8:

I feel like with every new episode, they show that they don't really care about the quality. Last episode had very important scenes after the ending song, and then they cut it abruptly. This time they repeated most of those scenes in the beginning (around 1.5 minutes), and put opening in a very awkward place, too, even though there were several god spots before and after it. Looks like editors can't make proper cuts.